The present invention relates to an evacuation slide which is provided with a visible guidance marking. Further, the invention relates to a vehicle, in particular an aircraft equipped with an evacuation slide of this kind.
Current passenger aircraft are equipped with inflatable evacuation slides which allow for evacuating passengers and crew members from an aircraft cabin after an emergency or crash landing of the aircraft. Typically, an inflatable evacuation slide is associated with a door or an emergency exit of the aircraft cabin such that persons leaving the aircraft cabin through the door or emergency exit can step on or jump on the evacuation slide and slide down the evacuation slide to the ground. Hence, the evacuation slides ensure that passengers and crew members can leave the aircraft cabin even in case the aircraft is of a size which does not allow a direct escape from the cabin to the ground.
Evacuation slides which are associated with aircraft cabin doors or emergency exits arranged in an aft or fore region of the aircraft cabin typically comprise a sliding face having a more or less constant inclination angle along its entire extension from the door or emergency exit to the ground. Hence, an evacuee leaving the aircraft cabin can directly jump out of the aircraft cabin onto the inclined sliding face of the evacuation slide. To the contrary, evacuation slides which are associated with aircraft cabin doors or emergency exits arranged in a midcabin or overwing area of the aircraft cabin, in order to allow deployment of the evacuation slides without being affected by the engines of the aircraft, typically comprise a sliding face which in a top end portion thereof is provided with a flat porch section. In the region of an edge of the flat porch section that faces away from the aircraft cabin door or emergency exit, the inclination of the sliding face changes, that is to say, when viewed in a moving direction of an evacuee leaving the aircraft cabin, the inclined section of the sliding face is arranged behind the flat porch section. An evacuee leaving the aircraft cabin therefore has to step out of the aircraft cabin onto the flat porch section of the sliding face first before being able to jump onto the inclined section of the sliding face when reaching the edge of the flat porch section that faces away from the aircraft cabin door or emergency exit.
Typically, an evacuation of all passengers on board the aircraft within 90 seconds has to be guaranteed with 50% of the doors available for evacuation. The maximum passenger number for a cabin equipped with, for example, four (4) Type A exit pairs is limited to 440 passengers. An increase of the passenger number thus requires equipping the aircraft cabin with an additional door or door pair which, however, might be undesirable because of the technical outlay, the costs and the weight. On the other hand, experience has shown that currently used evacuation slides are in principle capable of dealing flow rates more than the 110 person Type A exit rating. However, experience from tests indicates that many evacuees are reluctant to move as quickly as they could due to missing guidance and features providing a clear view about the descent, in particular in dark-of-night conditions.
DE 10 2010 055 704 A1 and WO 2012/084184 A1 therefore propose to equip a system for evacuating persons from a vehicle with a light signal generating device, which is adapted to emit at least one visual light signal that indicates at least one preset escape route for at least one person that is to be evacuated. The light signal generating device generates a visual light signal that may be discerned by a person and that informs and/or instructs the person, in which direction or at which location the person may reach safety in a hazardous situation. For example, the light signal generating device may be adapted to emit a light signal in the region of a dividing device, which divides an evacuation slide into a first slideway and a second slideway and extends substantially over the length of the evacuation slide. Alternatively or additionally, the light signal generating device may be adapted to display a light signal in a region of a top end of the evacuation slide which indicates a first position that is adjusted to a preset first entry point of the evacuation slide or in a region extending from the bottom end of the evacuation slide in a direction leading away from the evacuation slide.